Howe hints at major spending boost if Toon secure top-four as club plan multiple budgets

Eddie Howe has admitted that Champions League football would change our spending potential in the transfer market.

Speaking to the press earlier today, he hinted that FFP restrictions could be less stringent if we did secure a top-four finish; as the financial gain would increase our revenue and boost our budget and pull for potential star players.

He revealed that a lot of work is going on behind the scenes to evaluate what sort of money will be available whether we qualify for the Champions League, Europa League or Europa Conference, although the boss remained keen to focus on the task in hand ahead of our final 11 games of the season.

It's hard to ignore what a huge snowball effect Champions League football could create, giving us the opportunity to attract top players, lucrative sponsors and keep current stars happy. It would open so many doors, but we must be prepared for all eventualities.

Howe started with this when asked if we have different transfer plans based on the three European competitions on offer:

“Yeah, I think to a degree. I think we need all eventualities covered so we’re not behind the curve depending on what happens.

“We’re in the process of doing all that work now, me to a lesser degree because I’m preparing for the games, but behind the scenes we are.”

Asked if Champions League football could push back on FFP limits, Howe said:

“I think that would be an outcome, yeah. That would be an outcome of what we do.

“I can’t think about the outcome, I’ve got to think about how we get there. That’s what we’re working towards. Definitely, depending on what happens with where we finish that will dictate to a large part what we can or can’t do in the summer.”